Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Waterways Ireland has announced the reopening of Lock 15 on the Shannon-Erne Waterway at Tirmactiernan in Co Leitrim as of Thursday 27 August after a temporary closure for safety reasons. The lock has been closed due to the high volume…

Waterways Ireland’s jetties have reopened at Clonmacnoise, Shannonbridge, Shannon Harbour and Banagher on the Shannon Navigation following the lifting of coronavirus restrictions on counties Laois and Offaly. Meanwhile, visiting moorings on the Grand and Royal Canals, Barrow Navigation and Barrow…

Waterways Ireland has given notice of upcoming closures on the Lower Bann in Co Antrim and the Grand Canal in Dublin. On-location filming will see the Lower Bann closed to all boat traffic from the downstream side of Portglenone Bridge…

A unique collection of short stories celebrating individual connections with Ireland’s rivers, lakes and beaches has just been published. Stories from the Waterside is the result of a national story writing competition of the same name held in April and…

Waterways Ireland advises users of the Barrow Navigation that the towpath will be closed in two locations to facilitate works on the Barrow Blueway. The sections between Milltown Bridge, Athy and Ballymanus Bridge in Vicarstown, and between the 20th Lock…

Claims of speeding RIBs and jet skis over the weekend have prompted a call for a no-wake notice for Terryglass Harbour on Lough Derg. One boater said the powered vessels caused “large wakes in very close proximity to moored cruisers…

Once a Commodore, always a Commodore. And though it’s quite some time since Alan Algeo was Commodore of Lough Ree Yacht Club, in this its Quarter Millennium Year he feels that the frustrations of the COVID-denial of the full celebrations…

Waterways Ireland has closed a number of jetties and visitor moorings on its inland waterways in counties Laois, Offaly and Kildare due to the localised coronavirus restrictions imposed by the Government from yesterday evening, Friday 7 August. The affected jetties…

Works on phase one of the Barrow Blueway are now set to commence this month after the original start date was pushed back by three weeks. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the scheme, when complete, will provide a multi-activity 46km…

Royal Ulster Yacht Club members John and Sally McKee played a crucial part in their motor cruiser in a dramatic incident on the Shannon waterway last Saturday. A private cruiser from Limerick was making a passage northwards on Lough Ree…

Waterways Ireland and Fáilte Ireland are encouraging staycationers to ‘make a break for it’ on the Shannon Navigation this summer. And the latter has compiled a list of all currently open places to eat along with things to see and…

“The body responsible for canal boating doesn’t seem to want boating on the canals.” That’s the response of Gary Long, one of a number of barge owner on the Grand Canal in Dublin at the centre of a recent controversy…

Loughs Agency fishery officers recovered illegal nets in two separate incidents on the River Foyle last weekend. In the first of these, fishery officers seized a 150m-long net containing 28 salmon at an area known as Rosses Bay. A sea…

Waterways Ireland advises masters and users of the Shannon Navigation and Shannon-Erne Waterway that locks will be operating at summer hours from this coming Monday 20 July. Locks on the Shannon Navigation will operate from 9am to 8.30pm Mondays to…

The uniquely compact boats of Ireland’s characterful Drascombe fleet have their own way of doing things. Encouraged by their easily-lowered rigs and extra-shoal-draft-with-centreboard versatility, they’re well able to explore little-known harbours and winding waterways where bridges or overhanging trees might…

Waterways Ireland advises masters and owners of vessels that low water levels exist on the upstream approaches to Meelick Weir and Victoria Lock, north of Portumna on the Shannon Navigation. Water levels are currently up to 45cm below summer levels…